Does my Picasso have Internal Parasites? *Pic*

[theclearblue]

I received this fish today as part of a pair of ORA grade B picassos from a reputable vendor and am wondering if it has internal parasites.

It's showing a sunken belly and white string feces. I've attached a picture and was hoping someone can help identify the problem (internal parasites?) or allay my fears.

Thanks!

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/49758DSC_3427.jpg

[deltaforcehall]

Mine occellaris had the same thing. he would eat food and spit it back out... he died 3 days after i got him... same stringy white poop... yours will prob pass too unfortunately. If you google or yahoo "white stringy poop on clown fish" i found hundreds of stories w/ the same thing goin on like yours and mine had. all i read died a few days later. i dont know if it is New tank syndrom or poor diet or a parasite, but its definately worth trying to take him back for a healthy one

[PSam]

Looks just like what was going on with a picasso I got from saltwaterfish... didn't make it more than a few days

[theclearblue]

This is a serious bummer. I've sent the vendor several pictures along with my observations. Hopefully they'll help me out.

Unfortunately I don't have meds on hand - I bought a supposedly quarantined tank bred fish.

Sigh...

(This fish did not come from saltwaterfish.com)

[deltaforcehall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11661166#post11661166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by theclearblue
This is a serious bummer. I've sent the vendor several pictures along with my observations. Hopefully they'll help me out.

Unfortunately I don't have meds on hand - I bought a supposedly quarantined tank bred fish.

Sigh...

(This fish did not come from saltwaterfish.com)


go to your lfs... and grab some maracyn 2. and if you have a qt stick him in there.... 2/3 of my clowns died. 1 made it though.. so you still have a fighting chance w/ meds.... and dont forget brine shrimp just to keep him eating

[Jovreefer]

Oh stop, dont put this fish thru all that stress!

Stringy white poop also comes when a fish has not eaten for days. Is your fish eating? Is it breathing heavy?

Internal parasites is highly unlikly in a captive bred fish.

[theclearblue]

I'd honestly be surprised if this fish hadn't eaten for days, I received it this morning from a vendor that is known for the health of its livestock - it's not a fly by night website.

They've responded to my email stating that they also believe this fish has intestinal parasites. And to my further dismay, the other fish of the pair (w/o sunken belly) is showing the same symptoms.

These fish are quarantined in a system that, to the best of my knowledge, also holds wild caught fish. I may express this concern to them about this practice after this situation has been resolved.

Jovreefer - I haven't put either of the fish into a hospital tank, as it's my understanding that these meds are not detrimental to life on live rock and inverts (snails).

I'm researching the use of these medicines to verify this before I treat them.

Wish me (and the fish) luck.

[deltaforcehall]

did you do the google search i was talking about? this is so common with clowns apparently.

[theclearblue]

I did, thank you for the suggestion - I've got lots of reading material.

[timrandlerv10]

you just got them--they're in QT right? it sounded like they may already be in your display tank--what else do you have in there? (fish not inverts/corals)

if he is already in your dt, many of the aids to treatment cant be done there...salinity, ph, temp...so you really now have to balance waiting to see if its stress (Jovreefer) or parasites (you and delta).

i would pull him and not start any treatment...at least you can control the spread, be able to see an fecal matter on a white tank bottom, control the ph and temp quicker, begin hypo, etc.

good luck.

tim

[theclearblue]

Other than the fish, there are a few snails and some live rock in the tank.

The live rock is only in the tank for filtration purposes (I was nervous about an ammonia spike with only a sponge filter), so it would be very easy to pull the rock and snails out and treat the tank with anything that would be fatal to inverts.

[W Ellis]

I have a pair of picassos. It is very common for them to not eat for days do to the stress of shipping and water parameter changes. My LFS QT's any they get in due to this. They make sure they are eatting and healthy before selling them. It took 2 shipments to come in before i could get 1 that made it to replace a jumper i had.

[sugartooth]

In the meantime, feed meatier foods and see if that changes the feces a little. This may also confirm if you have parasites or not.

If you do have parasites, and they are still eating- prazipro soaked foods would be helpful. Also, you can prazi load baby brine shrimp as well.

Good luck.

[Mikigo]

i have a pair of Piccaso. the female had the same symptom. it wasted away despite eating 3-5 time a day. the male is still alive but i have to feed it several times a day to keep its weight up. i have found that these Picassos are not very hardy, this is just my exp. great looking fish though. good luck.

[MarinaP]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11664591#post11664591 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sugartooth

If you do have parasites, and they are still eating- prazipro soaked foods would be helpful.


Yes.

Or you can dissolve Prazipro in the water in a hospital tank.

Looks like classic case of internal parasites, not shedding of intestinal lining due to starvation (that takes more than a few days to happen).

[95accord]

i had a saddleback which had the same type of poop a couple weeks ago....finally kicked the bucket yesterday :(
hope yours gets better

[theclearblue]

I've started feeding prazipro soaked food to them - Rod's Food.

I'm going to wait 24 hours to see if this was induced by stress. If they're still showing these symptoms tomorrow at this time then I'll put them in a HT in water with prazipro.

I'll keep everyone updated.

Thanks for your help!

[slojmn]

Interesting thread...I have lost 4 Picasso clowns in the past month. A pair in December and then another pair this past weekend (the replacement for the others). They were in the vendors shop for 10 days prior to me taking them...one of the four he had perished before I took the two I picked. I should have passed but I had hopes for them as they appeared strong. At first they settled into quarentine wiht my other Picasso and misbar. They would not eat much and became lethargic and perished last night in the same fashion as the others. I am out quite a bit of money as they were top quality. So what was wrong??? Hard to really know. I have two other from a different strain doing fine in the nursery tank so I am ruling out any water quality issues etc. Since my other Picasso from a completely different strain seems healthy(and much younger than the 4 I lost) I have to figure something is up with these particular Picassos. Lesson learned, no more of those particular Picassos for me. Sad....I feel for you others that have lost these wonderful fish lately...seeems they may be kind of a weak strain.

[theclearblue]

At this point, the vendor believes that the stringy fecal matter is stress induced. I've been advised not to treat them and give them some time to become more comfortable in the tank.

I'll keep this thread up to date.

[MarinaP]

Bad advice from the vendor. Stringy feces are not stress-induced. They are due to intestinal parasites or prolonged starvation in most cases.

[theclearblue]

Thanks for your thoughts MarinaP. Their initial assessment was internal parasites, but someone else from this vendor (who may be more qualified to make a diagnosis than the first) has advised me that medicating them will cause further stress, which they believe to be the source of the problem.

I'm inclined at this point to follow their recommendations, if for no other reason than I don't feel confident in choosing to do otherwise.

I don't think it's appropriate in this forum to discuss who it is, but a search for posts I've made today will lead you to the thread with vendor's instructions for the clowns' care.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has let these symptoms resolve on their own, which may (or may not) support the stress-induced diagnosis.

[slojmn]

Well, in my case the symptoms resolved on their own...in death. My first pair of Picassos had the stringly white feces...looked just like your picture. I sure hope it turns out different for you. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Heterodonut]

clearblue, If you don't mind, how much did you pay for the Grade B Picasso in question? You can PM me if you don't want to post. Good luck with your fish.

[theclearblue]

Update:

As of this morning both of the fish are still showing the same symptoms.

I fed them Rod's food several times yesterday and never saw any of the stringy feces.

Before I fed them this morning, however, they had long stringy fecal matter - I assume from the pods they've been systematically hunting down and eating.

Sigh... so much for progress.

I'm still going to stick with the suggested non-treatment until they tell me to do otherwise.

Heterodonut - I paid $199 for the pair. I've seen grade A's locally for $179 each (ouch!), but I have no confidence in my LFS's QT or water quality - the fish have never looked to be in good health in their tanks.

They're both pretty young. The smaller of the two isn't showing any of it's third bars, and the larger's third bar is just starting to develop, so who knows what they'll end up looking like a year down the road.

[wicked_NaCl_h2o]

I found your other post but not by what you said on this thread.. I was looking at the vendors thread and was asking them a question myself. Then saw a post about how unhappy a person was about the order. I was curious what the problem was so I clicked on the thread. Then I thought, hmm this looks familar. I applaud you for not bashing the vendors name and good rep. I don't think it is bad advice they gave you. They are eating right? I wouldn't worry too much if they are eating... you will fatten them up in no time. Try not to feed them too much or you'll have a cyano problem soon.Take care I hope your little picassos will be alright. :) good luck.

[slojmn]

theclearblue,
How are the little guys holding up?? If they are eating I have great faith that you can get them through whatever this is. Mine just would not take food and it caught up with them.

[theclearblue]

The larger one isn't showing symptoms, and the little one is looking to be working through it.

They're both eating really well.

Seems like it was stress induced, not that I can blame them after spending 18 hours in a box under FedEx's care.

[BaNDiTo_RoX]

@theclearblue

Read your PM